Which country consists of two main islands and has a total area of 5,131 square kilometers?

Which country consists of two main islands and has a total area of 5,131 square kilometers? The answer is Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinidad and Tobago is a southern Caribbean republic made up chiefly of Trinidad and Tobago, plus several smaller islands and islets. Trinidad is by far the larger island, accounting for roughly 93% of the country’s area; Tobago lies northeast of it across a narrow sea passage.

The islands sit close to Venezuela: Trinidad is only about 11 kilometers from the South American mainland. Their geography helps explain a common mix-up—although politically Caribbean, Trinidad is geologically considered part of South America. The country’s total-area figure may appear as 5,128 or 5,131 square kilometers in different references because of differing measurement conventions and rounding.

The two islands were administered separately before Britain unified them in 1889. They became independent in 1962 and a republic in 1976. Smaller islands such as Chacachacare, Monos, Huevos and Little Tobago are part of the national territory, but they do not change the canonical answer.